thumb|upright|A photograph pushed by 2 stops, showing strong grain

Push processing in photography, sometimes called uprating, refers to a film developing technique that increases the effective sensitivity of the film being processed. Push processing involves developing the film for more time, possibly in combination with a higher temperature, than the manufacturer's recommendations. This technique results in effective overdevelopment of the film, compensating for underexposure in the camera.

Visual characteristics

Push processing allows relatively insensitive films to be used under lighting conditions that would ordinarily be too low for adequate exposure at the required shutter speed and aperture combination. This technique alters the visual characteristics of the film, such as higher contrast, increased grain and lower resolution.

John Alcott won an Oscar "for his gorgeous use of natural lighting" in Stanley Kubrick's 1975 period film Barry Lyndon, set in the 18th century, where he succeeded in filming scenes lit only by candlelight through the use of special wide-aperture Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7 lenses designed for the low-light shooting on NASA's moon landings, and then push-processing the film stock.

Larry Smith, the cinematographer for Kubrick's 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut, used push-processing to increase the intensity of the color.

Paul Thomas Anderson and Michael Bauman used this technique on their 35mm film stock for the 2017 film Phantom Thread, also filling its frames with "theatrical haze" to "dirty up" the look of the film.

See also

  • Film speed
  • Latent image
  • Photographic processing

References

  • Push/Pull Processing at Kodak